Initially designed for people with Hypoglycemia and Diabetes, the index is a measuring system to show how fast a carbohydrate triggers a rise in blood sugar - the higher the number, the faster and higher the blood sugar response is and the faster and more insulin is triggered as a response!
Foods with a high Glycemic Index number enter the bloodstream rapidly after you eat them, while low glycemic foods promote a slower release of glucose into the blood stream and the resultant call that creates for insulin to rebalance – very much a teeter-totter. This means that if you’re trying to do the right thing to maintain a balance between your insulin and blood sugar, the carbs in your diet should be low glycemic, complex carbs.
Eating with the index in mind has confused people and often left the impression of confused science, but this is not so. Carbs are easy to assay in the lab. There just happens to be two published glycemic indexes in circulation! One uses white bread as a base of 100 and one uses glucose as a base of 100. It’s the later that makes sense and that we use in this article (see attachment) because sugar is sugar but not all white bread is created equal. (see the attached little picture)
Diabetics, hypogylcemics, cancer patients and those wishing to lose weight should try to avoid foods with a Glycemic Index above 50.
Oils and fats are 0 on the scale and therefore, when added judiciously to a meal, help slow down the blood sugar spiking and proteins are quite low, too.
Processed foods are harder to access. Whole wheat macaroni by itself has a reading of 45, while packaged, manufactured macaroni with cheese (cheeses and cream are under 10 on the index so you wonder why this doesn’t bring the number down...) results in a reading of 64? So how can that be when the additional items are low on the index? The reason is that the processes used in the macaroni and cheese fabrication, include the addition of sugar and mean starches that we never think about and are hidden in the fancy package descriptions. It pays to read the labels and know what some of the long words really mean (there are 10 different long names for sugar alone, most of which end in “ose” and to wiggle past our scrutiny, processors often name a multitude of them by various titles. As we may only recognize one or two, we think we aren’t being “sugared”.
Root vegetables, which are known to be high in “good sugars” (especially good for the intestinal tract), also have magnificent fibres, enzymes, vitamins and minerals, but the index reminds us to maintain moderation. Roots range from parsnips at 97 to yams and carrots at 50. (French fries come in at 75 and so does pumpkin.)
Sweet corn, kidney beans and canned lentils stand at about 55 on the index. Un-canned garbanzo beans, split peas and beans “weigh in” at about 33. There is a big difference between canned and un-canned - up to 50% sometimes. This is due to the added “goodies”. Oranges have an index of 44 and orange juice of 52. So why is that? Juice, to be legally sold in stores, must be pasteurized and as vitamins and enzymes cannot withstand that sort of heat from processing, you are left with sugar and minerals - minus the enzymes required for the digestion of this juice and a bit of added sugar (fructose or dextrose) snuck in to make the brand seem nicer than the next... But, they are all doing it....
Watermelon at 72 competes with grapes at 46 on a weight for weight basis. All fruits are quite high in sugar and need to be taken in serious moderation.
Plain yogurt at 14 competes with gatorade at 95! Dates (instant sugar shot for the bloodstream) is a whopping 100 (same as sugar) on the index, making popcorn at 55 look good from this perspective. if you add a bit of softly melted organic butter, then that slows down the starch of the popcorn even more!
Some foods or drinks that we thought were over-loaded with sugar do not really cause the sugar spikes that were imagined or that dieticians warned us about. Strong views founded on years of assumptive nutrition can be a little shaken from time to time! Here science definitely proves to be our ally.
Normal cells in our bodies need carbs for many functions, especially our brains! Complex carbohydrates, the good ones that are released gradually, are necessary as carbohydrates are an integral part of many chemical reactions in our bodies. A slow release rather than spikes of low blood sugar, then high blood sugar, than high insulin and over and over, keep the normal cells happy. An imbalance also creates a strain in the pancreas 9for pumping out vast amounts of insulin), adrenals (cortisol for when the sugar drops too far) and liver, and can eventually cause these organs to become exhausted and create more problems at the cellular level. Also, C-reative protein in the blood occurs more frequently and that leads to systemic inflammation and weight gain. Receptor cells become a bit numb and more. Carbs are central to the feel good hormone serotonin, too, (that’s why some people on the Aitkins diet are so grumpy) and carbs are needed right down to the ATP cycle in the cell (that’s why the Atkins people sometimes feel like they have the flu).
Another reason to keep the balance smooth is that all cells need some sugar to function properly but cancer cells are absolutely dependent upon sugar to live, so we want to keep those sugar levels calm and even - slow release for the healthy cells. Spikes in blood sugar are just what a cancer cell needs for survival - a big fat whack! And co-incidental to a blast of sugar in the bloodstream there is a pulling back of the functioning of the white cells, too, so that the garbage removal and immunity work is hampered for several hours at a time (especially good to remember as so many people believe we need to be strong to withstand the most unusual, upcoming, anticipated flu season).
This index needs to be tucked into the hand of everyone diagnosed with a serious disease and their support people and care givers, too. This info makes one think twice about the cans of artificial food-replacement drinks, loaded with artificial vitamins and sugars (by many names), that are handed out in clinics while chemo is administered in order to “maintain weight”.
Any food which has a glycemic index above fifty belongs in the “sin once in a rare while” department. Our bodies were not designed to eat refined carbohydrates, except in very small quantities and these mean carbs give the good carbs a bad name!
...to your health...
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